Republican Rep. Lamar Smith, chair of the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee, declared in a speech on the floor of the House of Representatives this week that the people warning us about the dangers of global warming — which definitely includes climate scientists — are either trying to make a quick buck, or they’re just trying to control our lives.

As reported by The Hill, Smith made the following statement on Wednesday (April 5): “Climate change alarmists always predict cataclysmic events that will inevitably occur when the world’s temperature rises by more than two degrees Celsius … But all the howling and gnashing of teeth signifies nothing. It is all posturing for their own purposes, including a desire to control people’s lives or get another government grant or an academic promotion.”

Rep. Smith’s statements about scientists seeking to enrich themselves or control people’s lives are made without evidence, but if you apply them to climate science deniers, they might start to take on a ring of truth.

For example, Rep. Smith has taken more than $700,000 from the oil and gas industry over the course of his political career, according to OpenSecrets.org. This makes oil and gas the single largest industry donating to his Congressional campaigns. And in return for that money, Smith appears to have become a champion for the fossil fuel industry.

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Food for Thought:

Based on 2016 IMF Report the fossil fuel industry extracted $700B (billion) in annual tax payer subsidies. They paid $117 million in campaign contributions and they have 720 lobbyists in Washington, D.C. SOURCE